Missing Hero
by xoxInnerHollowxox
Summary: One month ago the Winter War ended. One month ago Ichigo Kurosaki went missing. What happens when he suddenly reappears as a Hollow? & what of his memories? Will Soul Society accept him, or kill him? Read to find out. Chapter 2 The Hunger, Read & Review!
1. Chapter 0  Prologue

**A.N: **I do not own Bleach, or any of the characters!

Hey everyone! This is just an idea I got after reading the chapter 420 the last day (it was fricking awesome!) So anyway this is a new story I came up with...I'm still think some parts over but this is sort of a prologue (or something like that) of what's to come. I hope you enjoy. So yea this is post-war.

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**Chapter 0 – Prologue**

"_Run! Hurry!"_

_Heavy rain poor continued to rain __vigorously__ as three out of breath teenagers ran for their lives, eyes wide with fear as the masked monster behind them chased them into the park. Tatsuki Arisawa turned her head to look back at the two males who were starting to fall behind her. "Come on!" she screeched back at them._

_Keigo Asano and Mizuiro Kojima quickened their pace, their breaths short and quick. With every breath a small puff of cold air escaped past their cold lips. Their muscles ached because of the consent running. As the three turned a corner Keigo lost his balance on the wet grass and tripped, falling over onto the hard ground causing him to accidentally bite his lip. Tatsuki swore under her breath as she and Mizuiro dragged him to his feet and behind a large tree as they attempted to catch their breath. _

"_D-do you think we lost it?" Keigo nervously asked as a trickle of blood run from his lip down his chin which he wiped away with the sleeve of his uniform._

"_I-I don't know," Tatsuki replied. She poked her head around one side of the trunk of the tree and scanned the area for the hollow. "That thing wasn't like the rest of them," she said as she checked the other side to make sure it was clear, "there's no way we'll be able to hurt it."_

_Just as she spoke a blood-curdling howl erupted causing the three frightened teens to bloke their ears. The high pitched scream pierced their ears painfully and the powerful spiritual pressure that came along with the howl made their bones creak under the strain. The hollow was nearby and it was gaining on them._

"_Shit."_

"_We gotta get away from it." Mizuiro said._

"_Run!"_

_They made a run for it but their energy was running on empty. Running under the crushing force of the spiritual pressure; it was impossible for them to run at full speed. It wasn't long before they could hear the crunching sound of the hollow's giant footsteps behind them, the low deep snarl of the monster as it caught up with it's prey. _

_Then it caught up with them._

_And it cornered them._

_There was no escape._

_Its nostrils flared as it sniffed the air and it let out a low taunting chuckle. Without a word or warning it brought a large grey hand down in attempt to crush them where they stood but the three were able to dodge it, just, but were sent flying in three different directions from the force of the hand hitting the ground. Tatsuki landed with a hard thud and she swore she could hear the bones in her right arm break. _

_Mizuiro was thrown backwards and into a trunk of a tree and he coughed up blood. Keigo unfortunately was thrown towards the hollow. He landed __brutally__ on his back and his winced in pain. It took a while for him to register what had happened but when a huge shadow cascaded over him he looked up and his eyes bulged. The hollow towered over him; it white frog like mask came closer to him, nostrils flaring wildly. It's empty, hungry eyes locked onto him and it's wide mouth opened showing off it's flat but deadly teeth covered in saliva. Keigo tried to move but his fear and now broken leg prevented any movement. The hungry hollow lunged forward and he clamped his eyes shut._

_And suddenly a howl of pain erupted from the hollow, and a new more powerful spiritual pressure was present._

_Keigo slowly opened his eyes, afraid of what to see, and what he saw surprised him. His eyes widened in disbelief._

"_I-Ichigo?"_

**o-o-o-o-o-o**_  
_

One month ago the Winter War ended and Karakura town was saved. There were many casualties but in the end the Soul Society had won and it was all thanks to a certain Substitute Shinigami . The end of the war should have marked a time for celebration, the world was saved from Aizen.

But there was something terribly wrong.

The hero of the war, the one who saved them all, disappeared without a trace.

Ichigo Kurosaki was gone, and no one knew what happened to him.

To be continued...

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Well that ends it, I hope you enjoyed it. I know it's short but like I said it's only like a preview :) I will be making the chapters between 1500-2500 words long depending on what's happening at the time. I will post chapter 1 hopefully sometime next week. Anyway please review and tell me what you think of it so far. If I get loads of reviews I update faster...and I'll give you a plate of cookies? *puppy dog eyes*

REVIEW! (insert echo here)

_Je ne! 19__th__/Sept/2010_


	2. Chapter 1  Evolution

**Diclaimer: **I do NOT own Bleach, or any of the characters used in this story nor do I own the lyrics.  
Thanks to XxXWolvesInTheNightXxX, Jessenia-chan, Zangetsu50, falconrukichi, fanficssuck, Firo Prochainezo, Kyuubiluver, Khlarka2, Midnight-Maddness95, Aquadreamer, Eternity Crystal, pureheartromantic, austmadman, Anon, and Good Omens for reviewing the last chapter! :D I'm glad that you all enjoyed reading it and I hope that his chapter doesn't disappoint you! And thanks to everyone who added this to your favourites list and alerts list :) It's much appreciated.

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**-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-  
**_Under this crushing weight, I'm sinking  
It never goes away, the thinking  
Echoes in empty rooms, decaying  
Alone to face to rest of me  
_**-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-**

**Chapter 1 – Evolution**

"_Where am I?"_

Ichigo Kurosaki slowly began to open his eyes but the soft light shining in his un-prepared eyes caused him to partly shut them again. He raised an aching arm to shield his eyes from the dull light. With his other hand, he began to push himself up into a sitting position but was surprised when his hand sank slowly into soft white sand instead of pushing against hard concrete.

"_What the-"_

Confused, he then looked up to look up at what he thought was the sun but his eyes met with the glowing light of the backwards half moon, suspended in the eternal night sky of Hueco Mundo. He turned his head slightly to the left, ignoring the shooting pains that travelled along his stiff neck line, and scanned the area. As he feared he saw the never-ending white dunes and the seemly endless desert all around him with the shrivelled trees of quartz scattered randomly in the dunes.

In a rush of panic he searched for his zanpakutō which to his relief was lying next to him. He reached out and grabbed the hilt and pulled it towards him but then noticed that something was different about it, both by its spiritual pressure and shape. First of all his zanpakutō wasn't in it's Shikai form like it normally was but in it's unreleased form by which it was just an over-sized katana. And then there was the spiritual pressure...dark and empty.

It was then when Ichigo realised something...

He wasn't supposed to have a zanpakutō...

He was no longer a shinigami...he'd gave up his shinigami powers in order to save his town from Aizen.

"_Then how?"_

He looked down at the straight edged blade of the sword and ran his fingers along it's blade. As figured he could no longer sense the presence of Zangetsu, but he could feel something residing within his blade. He closed his eyes to concentrate on the blade focusing on the presence that he felt in the blade. When he felt he was nearing the presence a sudden outburst of spiritual pressure from the zanpakutō overwhelmed him and the blade shattered into particles of spiritual energy.

The sudden outburst of power caused him to lose his breath. He tried to breathe but it was like he was sucking on air that contained no oxygen. He clutched at his chest gasping for air.

Without any warning an unbearable pain shot through his chest as if he was repeatedly being stabbed by an uneven sword. He fell forward, his hands kept him from falling flat on his face as he coughed up blood. Lots of blood. There was a tugging at his chest that went from a slightly annoying pain to something that felt like it was ripping apart his flesh. The familiar sensation of the white mask forming unwillingly on his face...

He coughed up more blood and it seeped into the now blood stained sand beneath him, the pain insufferable. He gasped, still unable to breathe, unable to scream. The feeling of the bones in his rib cage cracking and breaking, changing their shape and structure.

Particles of spiritual energy circled around him, carrying the sand along with it as it generated a light breeze in the windless desert. The tugging at his chest becoming more painful by the second until it suddenly stopped. Then it was suddenly replaced by another feeling, as if someone had just punched straight through his chest to the other side of his body. As he felt the pain enter and leave his body he could feel blood trickling down his body where the pain was like somebody actually punch a hole through him.

Then spirit particles all honed in on his body, enclosing him.

When the spirit particles finally broke away, Ichigo fell unconscious on the sandy desert floor. His now white shihakushō fluttered in the remaining breeze before settling. A fragment of mask circled his right eye. A normal sized zanpakutō lay at his side.

He was no longer a shinigami...no longer a human.

He was a hollow...

**o-o-o-One Week After the War-o-o-o  
o-o-o-World of the Living-o-o-o**

"Rukia?"

"..."

"Rukia, it's been one week I-" Renji stopped mid sentence. He didn't want to say what he was thinking because he didn't want to believe it was true. Instead, he placed his large hand on Rukia's slender shoulder in attempt to comfort her because there was nothing he could say that would.

"He's not gone," she said quietly, almost a whisper, "He can't just be gone." Even as she said it she knew that by the tone of her voice that she didn't sound convinced. She couldn't even convince herself. Ichigo had been missing for a whole week and without any sign of him. The Soul Society had given up looking for him but his friends had not, but even they we beginning to lose hope in ever finding him.

Renji sighed and watched as the setting sun slowly began to disappear behind the horizon. The two shinigamis stay silent for a while as they stood on a tall building that was overlooking Karakura town. A light breeze picked up and caused the cloth of their shihakushō to sway slightly. "Come on, Rukia," Renji said pulling her away from the buildings edge, "We'll try again tomorrow, it's getting late."

Rukia stayed still for awhile before reluctantly turning around to face Renji. He gave her a small smile of encouragement before the two of them headed away.

"_Ichigo," _Rukia thought,_ "where are you?" _

**o-o-o-o-o-o**

A few hours later Rukia stood in front of the Kurosaki household. She stood in front of the door unable to open it, not wanting to give bad news when she walked in. Just as she was about to open the door it opened revealing a brunette young girl standing in the door way. She looked at Rukia with hopeful eyes.

"Did you find Ichi-nii?" she asked steeping aside to allow Rukia in and also to look behind her to see if there was anyone standing behind her.

Rukia avoided her gaze, unable to look the young girl in the eyes, "No, I'm sorry Yuzu."

The small hopeful smile vanished from the girls face as she muttered a small "oh." Around the corner her twin sister Karin let out a disappointed sigh before going to back eating her dinner. As Yuzu and Rukia entered the kitchen Isshin quietly thanked Rukia for taking the time to look for his son and told her they will try again tomorrow.

**o-o-o-Three Weeks Later-o-o-o**

After a whole month of searching, Ichigo was never found. His friends didn't want to accept he was dead but there was nowhere where'd they hadn't searched. There wasn't a trace of his spiritual pressure anywhere in the city, soul society, heck they even searched Hueco Mundo in desperation but there was no sign of him being there. The only spiritual pressure there belonged to _hollows_...there was _no_ trace of a _human soul_. In the end Rukia and Renji headed back to the Soul Society to give their report, leaving Karakura town under the protection of their human friends until they got back.

In the world of the Living, a small rip in the sky opened up as a large but not huge hollow stepped through it to an open space in the sky. It sniffed the air in search of tasty human souls and sensed some in particular. It followed the sent to where a bunch of young humans were exiting a large building. There was one group of young humans that smelled particular delicious and it licked it's dry, hungry lips.

It stayed out of site as it watched as the group of humans split up, the stronger smelling of the two headed in one direction and the three weaker ones on the other. The hollow decided to go for the weaker ones.

Easy prey.

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Well that ends this chapter. God that was hard to write! I had no idea where I was going with this...don't worry I know exactly how I want the next chapter to be like. I'm going to try and update every two weeks or so 'cause I have school and stuff so I won't be able to update every week like it did with my last story. And I know there is sill some more explaining to do, don't worry that will all be explained in the new chapter or so ;)

Next week there will be a fight...and hopefully a surprise that will shock you all! :O

Now...REVIEW!

Je ne! 26th/Sept/2010


	3. Chapter 2 The Hunger

Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach, nor the lyrics at the beginning or the end of the story! **  
**Thanks to Jessenia-chan,Zangetsu50,fanficssuck,Aquadreamer,falconrukichi,Midnight-Maddness95,7500fx,XxXWolvesInTheNightXxX, Good Omens, Anon, Firo Prochainezo, KaosDemon, bluecrystal angel,minachan545,Wolfgirlpack1923,DemonVampyrWolf,Yami-no-Tamashii,for reviewing the last chapter!

This story is dedicated toXxXWolvesInTheNightXxX, my best friend! Without you this would never be done!

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_-_-_-_-_-__**  
**__No time for good bye, he said, as he faded away_  
_Don't put your life in someone's hands_  
_They're bound to steal it away_  
_Don't hide your mistakes 'cause they'll find you_  
_Burn you, then he said:_  
_"If you want to get out alive, then hold on for your life"__**  
**__-_-_-_-_-__**  
**_

**Chapter Three – The Hunger **

**o-o-Hueco Mundo-o-o **

Ichigo Kurosaki wondered the endless white desert that is Hueco Mundo. The backwards lunar moon hung low in the dark skies of the vast desert. His white robes stained in blood of the hollows he has slaughtered in the past month of his never ending journey. Small scars and cuts covered his body from stronger hollows but none looked like they caused any major damaged.

He looked up at the sky and stared at the dim crescent moon. No matter how far he traveled, or what direction he was in the sky always looks the same. It was almost like the moon itself moved along with him, following him like his shadow.

Lost in thought, Ichigo didn't notice the almost invisible trip wire that was hidden just below the sand. As his foot snagged the wire the ground beneath his feet began to tremble slightly. Before he knew it four large hollows clawed their way through the white sand to get to him. They jumped out towards Ichigo, ambushing him like a pack of wolves would ambush their prey. Working as a team they surrounded him and slowly closed in on him, hungry mouths looking for a tasty soul wide open exhibiting sharp teeth coated in saliva.

Without any hesitation Ichigo unsheathed his ___zanpakutō_ just as the hollow facing him charged towards him. He swung the sword up through the hollow's body, slicing through it like it was air and the hollow dissolved into nothingness. The only remains were the dark crimson droplets of blood that fell and seeped into the white sand, causing it to turn black.

Behind him he heard the familiar empty howl of a hollow erupt. Ichigo turned on his heels, swinging the thin blade around with him and stabbed the white mask of the hollow. It let out a tremendous scream of pain which signaled another hollow to attack while Ichigo was distracted. The hollow bolted towards him at a great speed. This one was almost twice as fast as the last two hollows. Ichigo, knowing that he will not be able to bloke this hollow with his zanpakutō opted for another defense. He stretched out his left hand and stopped the charging hollow with his bare hand.

Concentrating, Ichigo began to clench his fingers shut. Using some of his spiritual pressure to increase his strength the mask of the hollow began to crack and crumble until his formed a fist causing the mask to shatter. He then finished off the other hollow by turning his blade on its side and slicing through the side of the mask. Both hollows dissolved before they could hit the ground.

The last remaining hollow let out a loud empty wail as it charged towards Ichigo, mouth open, wanting to devour his powerful soul. With a single swing it was over. The final outcry of the hollow faded along with it body, more blood spilled onto the not so white sand. With all the hollows defeated Ichigo flicked the blood off his zanpakutō before he sheathed his blade in the leather scabbard that was attached to his hip and continued walking on like nothing had happened. He needed to find a way to get out of this desert, he need to go home.

If only he could remember where home was…

**o-o-World of the Living-o-o **

Orihime Inoue and Uryū Ishida waved goodbye to their friends at the end of school. They said that they had a meeting with Urahara-san and they'd better be going because they didn't want to be late. Taksuki waved them a goodbye and watched them disappear around the corner before sighing loudly.

"Ahhhh why so sad, Arisawa?" Keigo chirped loudly patting Taksuki maybe a little too harshly on the back. She shot him a glare causing Keigo to recoil in fear of being punched, before grabbing her bag off the ground and slinging it over her shoulder. "Let's just go." she said.

"I donno why you're so moody with me…" Keigo pouted almost childishly under his breath as she walked past him. His best friend Mizuiro Kojima walked beside him with his phone flipped open as he scanned the menus, uninterested in the content.

Of course Taksuki wasn't mad at Keigo for any particular reason, (apart from the fact he could be really annoying.) She was however worried. Only a month ago had she learned that her best friend was kidnapped and held against her will. She'd witnessed her friends fight a battle that seemed impossible to win. Unlike Keigo, who was able to brush away his worries on the outside by acting a clown she was not so lucky.

She could never forget the last time she saw Ichigo. He looked slightly older, his hair longer, stature taller. He stood in front of her and the others like a human shield. She could never forget the look in his eyes as he turned his head to them and told them not to worry, that everything will end soon. His eyes were a mixture of sorrow and regret like he knew something was going to happen, something he didn't like. He then turned to the evil that faced him and then, Ichigo Kurosaki aged sixteen disappeared with the most evil monster Taksuki had ever faced in her life and she never saw him again.

Ichigo was gone…

"Arisawa?" A hand waved in front of her face, "ARISA-OW!"

Her fist connected with Keigo's head in a satisfying manor. "What?" she yelled.

Keigo whimpered as he tried to nurse his poor head back to health, "I-I think we're being followed…" he whispered.

Taksuki raised an eyebrow, "What are you on about?"

Mizuiro said, "Well while you were busy day-dreaming, Keigo kept thinking he saw shadows moving on the walls."

"I did!" Keigo said. Mizuiro didn't look convinced.

It was when she felt a shiver run down her spine that Taksuki began to worry. She turned around quickly thinking someone was there behind her, taking away her body heat but when she did she saw nothing. The air around her suddenly felt very cold.

"A-Arisawa?" Keigo asked noticing the sudden change in her body language.

"I think, for once, Keigo is right," she half whispered half yelled due to panic. Keigo let out a small shriek of terror and Mizuiro's eyes widened. "And I don't think it's human." She continued. Normally Taksuki was able to sense the presence of ghosts and hollows alike, especially after the Winter War so she couldn't understand why it took her so long to notice this one or why she couldn't see it.

"I think we should we should get out of here." she said and the other two nodded in agreement. They couldn't see who or _what_ was following them but there was no doubt there was a _presence_ of some sorts behind them. They began to run in the other direction just at the rain began to fall.

**o-o-Hueco Mundo-o-o **

Ichigo was leaned against a tree, resting. His eyes were closed, his brow furrowed in frustration. He was remembering, or at least _trying_ to remember at least where his home was. He could picture it, almost like he was there but the name kept slipping away. He let out a frustrated sign and realization dawned on him.

His memories were slowly fading away...

It had noticed a while ago but ignored it, hoping that his slowly fading memories would recover thinking that this was all part of the process of becoming a hollow. But day by day places, names, and faces began to disappear. Everything about his human and shinigami life was slipping away like it never happened. Ichigo rubbed his temples in annoyance trying to remember his old life. His mind dived into what was left of his memory banks as he tried to remember his family. He thought long and hard but with no luck. It was like he was staring at a photo with the faces blurred out, and any emotion towards that memory was gone.

He sighed sadly, his scowl turning into a disappointed smile. His facial expression softened. The reality was that what was happening to him was inevitable, and there was nothing he can do to stop or reverse what happened to him. He really was a hollow, everything and anything human was disappearing slowly.

He ran his finger along the edge of the mask that surrounded his right eye, his thumb running along the small teeth that ran under his eye. He actually didn't know what his mask looked like, Heuco Mundo lacked mirrors. His fingers then traced around of the edges of the perfect hollow circle in the middle of his chest. Memories of _that day_ came flooding back to him.

**_-_-_-__Flashback__-_-_-_**

_The last thing he remembered before falling unconscious was a tearing sensation at his chest, the difficulty of breathing and hollow mask encircling his right eyes. When he woke up he was laying face down in the blood stained sand. He pushed himself up, the muscles in his arm ached and he struggled to push himself up. A shooting pain through his chest nearly caused him to collapse under his own weight. His whole body ached, his muscles strained as they were stiff from not moving. _

"_F-fuck…" He pushed himself up into a standing position nearly falling over in the process, despite his body's protest. Using a nearby tree he steadied himself, breathing hard. He felt weak._

_He felt it hard to breathe. He clutched the fabric around his chest taking in short fast breaths. He hands brushed against flesh and then…nothing. His hands passed emptiness perfectly in the middle of his chest. Eyes widened as Ichigo began to feel sick. Before he knew what he was doing his hands shot up to inspect his face and sure enough his fingers traced the sharp outlines on the mask surrounding his right eye._

_Ichigo could feel himself shaking. He then noticed his zanpakutō, now at a normal size, lying on the ground next to him. He picked it up, unable to feel the presence from it. The name of the zanpakutō…he thought for a while but somehow he could not remember it. The name was etched out of his mind. He panicked. How could he forget a name of a friend just like that? _

_Over in the distance a couple of hollows were closing on his location. Ichigo stared at them, and they stared back at him._

_At the pit of his stomach Ichigo felt something. In normal circumstances he would have called the feeling gut instinct, but not in this case. This feeling was much more…intense. Like hunger, not a need to eat but something else. It was __a feeling that Ichigo didn't recognize. __It was something more…something that was indescribable. He wanted to fight, even though he felt weak. He grabbed the hilt of his zanpakutō._

_The hollows saw this and lunged towards him, and so did Ichigo now feeling his energy slowly coming back thanks to the adrenaline pumping through his system. He didn't know what this 'hunger' was, all he knew was that he needed to satisfy it…_

**_-_-_-__End Flashback__-_-_-_**

_The hunger..._

Ichigo's head perked up, there was something in the distance he could smell it. He stood up, attaching his scabbard to the belt of his white hakama and walked towards the direction. There was a hollow nearby, a strong one at that but nothing he couldn't handle. He didn't have to walk far to find it. A large hollow with brown leathery skin stood hunched over like a goblin. It white mask was almost frog like with olive green marking above and below its dark empty eyes. It raised a long arm and extended a finger like it was pointing.

Then the space in front of the hollow's finger began to rip open. Ichigo could feel the air around him change as the hole in the air opened up, big enough so the frog like hollow could step through it. The hollow stepped forward, and so did Ichgio. This could be his chance to escape. He had not been able to open a garganta by himself; he tried several times but failed. As the hollow's tail entered the hole the gateway began to close and Ichigo bolted towards it as fast as he can and jumped through it just as it closed.

When he entered the hollow he followed was nowhere to be seen. What he could see however was a very bright light at the end of the eternal darkness of the tunnel of whirling torrential energy. He ran towards the direction, shielding his unaccustomed eyes from the intensity of the bright light.

**o-o-World of the Living-o-o**

Ichigo stepped out from the darkness and into the light. He stood in the air high enough that he could see for miles; all around him buildings stood tall creating shadows on the streets below. Ichigo turned his head from side to side inspecting the area. Everything looked so recognizable and he knew that this was the town he had been trying to remember. He _knew_ it.

Ichigo felt himself smile, but it was soon ruined when he heard the familiar howling of a hollow hunting down its prey. He headed towards the howl using sonído, a technique he had mastered while in Heuco Mundo. The static sound of him vanishing and recurring filled the quiet skies.

It wasn't long before he caught up with the hollow. He watched it from afar, curious to what it was doing. He watched as he saw the hollow disappear from his line of sight. Ichigo tilted his head to the side, confused. The hollow was still there, he knew that because he could still feel the spiritual pressure then where...

Then it reappeared, a couple of yards ahead to where it was originally. It was turning itself invisible? But why? What was the point turning invisible in a land where hollows cannot be seen by humans? Ichigo scanned the surrounding area, using the bird's eye view to his advantage. He followed the hollows line of view when he noticed that it was concentrating intensely straight ahead.

Three humans caught his eye in the distance, about half a mile away from where the hollow was. He squinted his eyes trying to focus on them. He was too far away so he couldn't see their faces but there was no doubt in his mind that he could sense a small amount of spiritual pressure in each of them.

He watched as he saw the hollow close in on the humans, turning invisible one more to sneak up on its prey. Ichigo couldn't explain it, but he felt as if he had to get closer. He moved stealthy making sure he hid his spiritual pressure perfectly hidden so not to be detected.

He saw the humans run; they knew there was something chasing them even though they couldn't see it. Ichigo was impressed that they were able to sense the hollows presence at all which perked his curiosity even more. He got closer, he had to get closer. Something was drawing him in, like something had a rope around his waist and pulling him towards them.

Using the surrounding area as cover he was able to get really close without anyone noticing him. He watched as the group of humans attempted to escape the hollow, which had made itself visible, only to get cornered. It was only while they were standing still, complete fear rendered them unable to move, did Ichigo get a chance to see their faces...

'_Wait a minute'_ Ichigo titled his head to the side wanting to get a better look. He recognized those people. He crept forwards, silently making his ways towards them. He knew them, even with his fading memories he recognized them from faded memories. Even though the names of these human was gone there was no doubt that he knew them...well _did _know them.

He watched as the hollow brought his hand towards the humans and the force of the impact sent them flying in all direction. One of the humans landed in front of the hollow, and the hollow prepared for another attack. Ichigo'd had enough. He grabbed the hilt of his zanpakutō, the sword shaking by his side as he was gripping it so hard. He felt a need to protect these people, he needed to save them. Kill the hollow and rid of it, these people may have the key to his forgotten past.

Before he knew he had moved, he had disappeared and reappeared just in time to stop the hollows attack on the brunette teen with his zanpakutō, cutting into the hollow's arm making is howl in pain. He swung his blade upwards pushing the hollow back and away from the human. The force of the impact when the hollow hit the ground caused a cloud of dirt into the air making it hard to see the surrounding area.

Keigo slowly opened his eyes, afraid of what to see, and what he saw surprised him. His eyes widened in disbelief. As the dirt cloud cleared away he saw a tall figure standing in front of him. White robes fluttered in the remaining breeze from the impact, orange spiky locks that reached to the bottom of his neck swayed in the light wind. In his hand a long thin black blade was held firmly in his grasp.

"I-Ichigo?"

The figured turned around slowly towards the voice. Keigo smiled and let out a disbelieved laugh, "Ichigo! Man I knew it was you!" He tried to get in excitement up but his broken leg was stopping him. He winced slightly at the shooting pain that was running through his leg and looked down to inspect the damage. When he looked back up at Ichigo however the smile on his face slowly began to fade away.

At first glance his failed to notice the small fragment of mask on his face, the dark empty hole in his chest. But now that he was fully turned around Keigo was able to see. He stared at Ichigo in disbelief and what stared back at him were empty eyes.

Their reunion however was short lived as the hollow had gotten back up on his feet and was now charging towards Ichigo. Ichigo broke his gaze from the brunette and turned towards the hollow. He didn't have time to play with this hollow so he opted to end things quickly. He swung his blade so quickly that he doubted that to hollow even saw it coming. The blade sliced through the bone mask with ease splitting the creatures head in two. However just before the creature dissolved it had managed to cut Ichigo on his abdomen with its long claw; it was only a shallow cut nothing major.

He removed the blood from his blade and sheathed it in the scabbard. While he was defeating the hollow the three humans had regrouped, the young woman was helping the brown haired man up to his feet. He watched as the brunette talked ridiculously fast, eyes wide with the amount of adrenaline that was pumping through his system. He then pointed in Ichigos direction. The women looked up and he eyes widened with relief, and fear.

That settled it, these people knew him. He walked towards them, his hand hovering just above the hilt of his zanpakutō; you could never he too careful. Taksuki gave the job of helping Keigo to Mizuiro and then ran towards he childhood friend even though it hurt so badly to move. She stopped a few feet in front of him, taking in his new appearance. "W-what happened to you?" she asked.

"Wh-" Ichigo began but then something stopped him. He clenched at his stomach which had a sudden burning pain. He fell to his knees. The minor wound that he received from the hollow wasn't just a small wound after all. His vision and hearing began to blur, he could hear the other two humans making their way towards him.

"Arisawa!" one of them called, "What's happening?"

"I don't know!" she called back. She leaned over Ichigo, "Ichigo!" she yelled, shaking his shoulders, "Ichigo what's wrong?"

Ichigo was now lying on his back looking up at the sky and the girl who was bent over him. The images he saw began to melt into one another, fading into complete darkness. He felt light headed. With the last bit of energy he had left before he passed out, he looked up at the three humans and said:

"W-who are you?"

_To be continued…_

_**-_-_-_-_-**__  
__I'm standing on my own  
Remembering the one I left at home  
Forget about the life I used to know  
Forget about the one I left at home  
So now I'm standing here alone  
I'm learning how to live life on my own  
Forget about the past I'll never know  
Forget about the one I left at home  
_**_-_-_-_-_-_**

_**

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Thank you so much for reading…I hope you enjoyed it and it wasn't disappointing xD

Now please, would you leave a review? I only takes a second

Just a little shout out here. My best friend XxXWolvesInTheNightXxX has written a new story, and it's really awesome so I was wondering if any of you lot would like to read it. It's called The Other Side…here's a summery:

"Ichigo Kurosaki use to be an ordinary highschool student, but that all changed after he met Rukia Kikuchi. Now they are preparing for the Winter War and Ichigo is trying to control his hollow powers, but what happens when..."

Je ne! 12th/Nov/2010


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